Consumer Price Index taken into consideration (Table 5, page 23). There has been an increase in expenditures for capital improvement projects in FY 2026/27, especially in the Water & Sewer Replacement & Renewal Fund which has budgeted $1,700,000 for a Ground Storage Tank and $1,160,000 for a Lift Station Generator. The detailed expenditures related to operating costs are reflected in the individual department pages by fund.
The City is required to fund the CRA for the increase in Tax Increment Funding each year as mandated by State of Florida CRA Statutes. The estimated transfer will be $999,682 (Community Redevelopment Summary, page 254), based on taxable values as provided by the Lake County Property Appraiser's Office.
This section describes the major financial policies that affect the City's long-term financial planning and budgeting processes. The City's financial policies serve to match spending needs with available resources. The annual budget is prepared as a balanced budget, with total revenues and other financing sources equaling total expenditures/expenses and other financing uses for each fund. Any shortfalls of current revenue sources matched against anticipated expenditures are supplemented with a reduction in the existing fund balance.
The use of fund balance to balance a fund's budget makes a fund balance reserve policy an important planning and budgeting tool. Large-scale capital project spending needs and fluctuating interest rates make debt management a closely watched financial policy issue. Investing the City's financial resources so that the funds' values keep pace with rising costs is aggressively administered.
The City will develop and maintain accounting and budgetary control systems to adequately safeguard the assets being held in public trust.
The City will limit current expenditures to match against currently anticipated revenues. The City will avoid balancing current operating expenditures with borrowed revenues.
The City will provide for adequate maintenance of capital, plant, and equipment and for their orderly replacement.
The City will balance its budget year so that each fund's budgeted revenues equal the budgeted expenditures. The utilization of the existing fund balance as a revenue source to meet current needs will be minimized as much as possible.
The City shall maintain, as permitted by State law, a diversified revenue base to offset the effects of short-term fluctuations in any one revenue source and reduce reliance on any one revenue source.
This City shall estimate its annual revenues as part of the budgetary process through a conservative, objective, and analytical process. It will review and evaluate new revenue sources to fund operating expenditures consistently with the City Commission's goals and objectives.
The City shall establish all user charges and fees to recover all or a portion of the cost of providing a service. The City shall review user fees/charges periodically to ensure they are fair and equitable to all users.
The City shall transfer a portion of the budgeted operating revenue from the Water and Sewer Utility Revenue Fund to the General Fund as a return on the City's investment in the utility infrastructure and for administrative purposes.
The City has established a Fund Balance Policy in accordance with Governmental Accounting Standards Board Statement No. 54, Fund Balance Reporting and Governmental Fund Type Definitions as adopted in Resolution 11-2292. Fund Balances have been designated as non-
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